Many people are injured on a daily basis while exercising and weight training, some more seriously than others. In order to keep this from happening to you a simple process is needed, and that is preventive care. This prevention consists of practice on technique and form, knowing your limits, plus vitamin and mineral intake. You lower the risk of injury greatly by following these basic steps.

Practice Makes Perfect!

This saying applies to just about every aspect of daily life, and is very much needed when it comes to exercise and weight training. Injury and possibly death may occur without the proper technique and form being used during lifts. The best way to practice any type of weight exercise is by using a light amount that fits you. For example, to practice performing squats just use the barbell first to get a feel for it, and if that is still kind of heavy then use something like a broomstick.

Barbell bench press is one of the most common areas that someone exercising gets injured. One reason is because you are lying underneath the bar, and that leaves you vulnerable to the bar falling directly on you with all the crushing weight. A common error that many people do is placing their thumbs under the bar. You must never do that; you will always place the bar in the palm of your hand and wrap your thumb around the bar.

Squats, deadlifts, etc. are at least performed to where you can safely get out of the way of the falling weight. However, that just means that instead of self injury you may cause harm to others. That is why you must be safe and practice first!

You Know your Weight Limit!

Knowing your limits of how much you can lift is also important. Do not ever place a lot of weight you never have tried before, or at least have not lifted close to that amount. Showing off at the gym is another cause for many of the injuries received during training. Never care how much the person next to you is doing because you need to lift what is right for you. If you do not do this then you will never be able to grow stronger.

Vitamins and Minerals

Taking supplements can actually prevent serious injuries from occurring. Your body is receiving a lot of pressure on the bones when lifting weights and exercising. That is why it is imperative that you have a high calcium intake to build stronger bones. Omega-3 fatty oil is also good for preventive care against heart disease, and has been known to help with sore joints. If you have bad joints and receive a lot of pain during training then this might be a good supplement to take. Protein needs to be used to help with every process and cell development in your body. All three of these supplements also go well taken together, especially calcium and fish oil.

You can also find those nutrients in your foods as well if you are not one for taking supplements. The main point of everything is that you need to be safe and obtain the vitamins and minerals needed. Take the time and learn about what you are doing and perform some research to add on to your preventive care steps!